Protester cleared in Dallas police attack has received hundreds of death threats and is in hiding

A protester cleared in the attack on Dallas cops was forced to flee from a local hotel where he was staying since the rampage.

A gun-toting, camouflage-wearing protester cleared in last week's deadly attack on Dallas police officers was forced to run for his life from the local hotel where he had been holed up with his family since the rampage, his lawyer said Sunday.

Mark Hughes was cleared of any involvement in the assault-rifle attack that killed five police officers in the waning moments of a Black Lives Matter protest, but not with the same fanfare he received when cops circulated his photo and asked for the public's help to find him.

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The Dallas police department tweeted a photo of the black protester with a rifle slung over his shoulder and wearing a camouflage T-shirt.

The image was retweeted thousands of times and broadcast on television before police acknowledged that Hughes — a demonstrator at the protest where the shooting occurred — was not a suspect.

Mark Hughes was mistakenly identified by the Dallas Police Department as a suspect in the deadly police ambush. Now Hughes is on the run after receiving death threats. (ERIK S. LESSER/EPA)

Though cops officially cleared him, Hughes' family said he has received hundreds death threats, and was forced into hiding.

But that escape was short-lived, said the family's attorney, S. Lee Merritt, who said he was with Hughes and members of his family when they were confronted Sunday at a hotel where they were staying by an angry mob.

Hughes was with his brother, Cory, who helped organize the Dallas protest.

Mark Hughes (l.) is seen with his brother Cory Hughes during an interview on Saturday. Mark Hughes fled from a hotel after encountering a group of angry men who were searching for him. (Eric Gay/AP)

"Cory went to the bathroom and noticed a group of white guys staring at him and they had pictures of his brother up on their phones," Merritt told the Daily News.

"He came back to me where we were eating and those same guys started taking positions around us by the exits. I got us up in a hurry and got out of there."

Merritt said they were forced to leave the state.

Mark Hughes was cleared of any involvement in the assault-rifle attack, but not with the same fanfare he received when cops circulated his photo. (Dallas Police Department via Twitter)

It was not immediately clear if Hughes or anyone in his party reported the incident to police. A spokesman for the department did not immediately respond to a phone call or email seeking comment.